Before you start your practice each day, it is a good idea to calm the mind, body, and emotions. Do not simply enter your practice abrasively. You will lose out on so many benefits if you do. Take a few moments to enter a state of serenity. Here is a simple and effective meditation that will help you reach this place.

Inner Smile Meditation

The purpose of this meditation is to activate an energy of loving kindness towards ourselves and our bodies. This specific meditation allows us to send light, healing energy to any part of the body.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 10 - 30 minutes, or longer if you'd like

Here's How:

Sit comfortable on w straight-backed chair or on the floor. If it's more comfortable, you can lean against a wall. Whatever you choose, make sure that your spine is in an upright position, and that your head, neck and throat muscles feel relaxed.

Take a couple of deep, slow breaths. A notice how your abdomen rise with every inhalation, and relaxes back towards your spine with every exhalation. Let go of thoughts of the future or the past. Focus only on the air moving in and out of your lungs.

Rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth, near the back of your front teeth, and relax your lips into a smile. The smile should be subtle, and to yourself, as if you are recalling a beautiful and distant memory. Feel your head and neck relax as you smile, and notice how the act of smiling in this way begins to make you feel very good inside.

Bring your attention to the space between your eyebrows, or your third eye. Rest your attention here, and feel the energy begin to gather. A imagine your third eye center as a growing pool of warm call energy that is growing deep.

Bring your attention to rest on the center of your brain, the space equidistant between the tips of your ears. This is the home of the the pineal, pituitary, thalamus, and hypothalamus glands. This spot is the center of our emotions and intuitive power.

Allow this warm, loving energy to move forward towards your eyes, and let your eyes smile along with your mouth. Imagine you are staring into the eyes of the person you love most in the word, and that they are staring back at you. You can also imagine that you are looking into your own eyes, infusing yourself with loving kindness and acceptance.

From here, send this loving energy down to your heart and allow the energy to pool there. Imagine that your heart is glowing, that you are radiating this energy out from your heart in all directions. Place your hand on your heart and feel the energy emanating our from your center.

Move the energy down to your yoni, and let it pool and collect there for several minutes. Move you hand from your heart to your yoni, feeling the connection between them, and allow space for love to grow.

When this feels complete, direct your inner gaze, with its smile-energy, into your navel center, feeling warmth and brightness gathering now in your lower belly.

Release your tongue from the roof of your mouth and if you wish, release the smile as well.

Remember to maintain the quality of a gentle, genuine smile - infused with the energy of loving-kindness and compassion - particularly when directing your smile to your yoni. Don't worry if you notice frustration, anger, fear or judgment creeping in. Take a couple of deep breaths, then connect again with loving-kindness and compassion.